Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned…

…I have not posted anything in more than a week.

Recently my life has been a little bit busy, mainly because a couple of weeks ago I started playing one of those MMORPG things everyone is doing nowadays. Back in the day when I was fully immersed in the darkside of geekiness, I used to play online games. My addiction started with this game called Ultima Online. In this game, I used to kill rabbits and skeletons, as well as have a job as a weaver making armor for other players. Because this was the dawn of online games, it became a little repetitive and I got tired of it and soon left the land of Britania.

Then my brother introduced me to the game he was obsessd at the time: Diablo II. I was instintly hooked. I was now a necromancer summoning the dead to fight by my side. This game was pretty fun and I wasted a bunch of hours leveling up and doing missions and shit. There was only one drawback, because this was still the early days of online gaming, this game only had like 5 stages, with each stage only having like 3 or 4 parts. If you beat the game, you get to repeat it at a more difficult setting. At first it was ok, but I became bored playing the same worlds over and over, so I quit. G’bye Mr. Necromancer, you were fun but I gotta go.

My brother at this time also left Diablos and went to World of Warclaft. I tried to play it, but it was too much for me. That game is very hectic and lotta stuff happes all at once. I kept having anxiety attacks trying to play, so I quit only having leveled my rogue or ranger or whatever they’re called to lvl 4. I know its the most popular game, but I really didn’t like it. Besides, it really doesn’t look good, looks kinda boxy and ugly. Sorry WoW people, that’s just how I feel, don’t hate me cuz I’m not as dorky as you, I do have my limits. World of Warclraft sucks!!!

After a few years away from the online community playing my playstation games by myself, I fond this other game for online play, and it was like falling off the wagon. This time it was Final Fantasy XI.

I’ve always been a fan of the Final Fantasy games, so I gave the online version a try. It soon becae almost an obsession loggin on to that world. I usually don’t like to be in the same place for long periods of time, so my playing time was about 3 hours every other day. If you think about it and do the math, that’s a shitload of time wasted away. But then if you think about it, how much time do people waste in ront of the tv, or talking on the phone, or even hanging out with friends? I soon made a bunch of friends online, so technically I was hanging out with them and shooting the breeze while killing monsters and leveling up my samurai. Yes, I was a samurai. Name:Blackmamba.

Actually I looked more like this, but I did make my character tall, blond and female. Movie geeks, eat your hearts out!! I was soooo happy playing with my “virtual” friends. I know it sounds very loserish, but it was fun. I didn’t forget my real lif frieds and work and being active, but at the same time, I made friends from all over the world. This addiction lasted for about 3 years.

The thing with these games is tht they’re very immersive. You have this character, you do missions. But you also have to make “money” in order to buy armor and stuff in the game. So in order to make money, you gotta learn a craft and get a job. Sounds familiar? You betcha, it ’s called “real life”!! After realizing I was spending too much time online leveling my character (Lvl 75 Samurai, lvl 75 Blue Mage. Hellz yeah!!!), I decided to quit and rejoin society. I was free and a little bit less geeky. That didn’t last.

This lasted for like a year. Fast forward to last month. I decided to go back to playing Final Fantasy, but this time I decided not to go alone. I dragged Mr. N (names have been changed to protect the geeky and innocent) with me to the dark pits of geekdom and both of us started a character. He’s really enjoying playing as a Red Mage, while I’m enjoying being a Monk. This time it’s different though. I’ve actually never played with another person in the same room. We’re taking it pretty chill and not spending too much time online. I still have the character of Blackmamba, but she’s semi-retired. If you see someone by the name of Stilgar in the Phoenix server, send me a /tell Hey there! (If you understand all that, sorry to break it to ya but you a nerd!).

P.S. Extra points to anyone that can tell me where the name of Stilgar came from. Family excluded, of course.

P.P.S Yes, I do realize I’m a nerd for naming my character that.

Readin Rainbow #3: Dune Messiah and Children of Dune

Today’s Readin Rainbow is a special treat because I will be reviewing 2 books instead of just one.  It’s not because I’m a very busy individual and only have time to review one book.  It’s because when considering the entire series of Dune books, I would say that Dune Messiah is the prologue to Children of Dune.

First we will start with Dune Messiah.  Here we are 3 years later where we left off in Dune.  Paul “Muad’Dib” Atraides found himself a little fremen chicky.  Alia is grown up and has her own religion just like her older brother.  Oh yeah, and Duncan Idaho has returned from the dead.  I will try not to disclose too many details on this book, maybe you will pick it up and read it.  All I will say is that it’s just like a good telenovela with all the twists and turns and double crossings.  Very delicious! 

Since becoming the Emperor of the known universe, Paul is worried that he’s become too powerful, almost a cult symbol.  This only gets worse with Alia at his side.  Both of these kids are too powerful.  Paul has had a vision of the future of a religious war that is fought under his name.  Throughout the book, Paul tries to de-mystify his name in order to avoid this “Atraides jihad”.

All of the characters in this series are exceptionally interesting.  My fave is Alia, she’s so kick-ass, even though she’s a little nutso.  Hey, guess where I got the name for this blog?  Yup, it’s all Alia.

As Paul was preety much gonna give up on his fight against becoming a cult symbol, he gets inspiration to keep fighting when Chiani has his twins.  And here is where Messiah ends and Children of Dune begins.  Just like Alia was born with awareness of her past lives cuz Lady Jessica went through the spice agony while preggers, the same thing happened to the twins, Leto and Ghanima.  Their dad was a Kwasi Haderah and their mom a spice junkie.  No wonder these kids aint aright. 

Because these kids are the heirs of the Empire, people want them dead.  So while they’re raised by Irulan in hiding, Alia has taken ownership of the Empire.  She’s also hooked up with Duncan Idaho.  But runnin an empire and keepin her man happy is too much pressure for Alia, so she O.D.’s on spice as much as she can and goes froot-loops.  he most important part of the book is when a teenage Leto goes out into the desert and lets sand trout (baby sandworms) attach to his body.  This gives him power over the worms and makes him super powerful.  He confronts Alia and takes back the empire.  In the process of becoming uber-powerful, he’s seen the future jihad as well as humankind’s fate, and aint happy.  So under him, the empire will follow the “Golden Path” and elevate humans to their next evolutionary place.

Like I said before, this whole series reads just like a Mexican soap opera.  Even though the main characters so far have been male (Paul and his son Leto),  it’s the female characters that make the entire story possible.  Lady Jessica is the foundation of the whole story, the original heretic that defied her teachers and had a son(Paul).  Alia is the radical variable that keeps the story exciting.  Irulan and Chiani are the yin-yang that surround Paul.  They are total opposites but need each other.  Hell, Irulan raises Chiani’s kids, and loves them like they were her own.  And of course the Bene Gesserit.  These chicks are the center of the whole Dune universe. 

Here is a little exept from the Sci-Fi channel’s attempt to make this into a movie.  This is pretty much where Messiah ends and Children begins.  It is a bit of a spoiler but if you haven’t read the books, you aint gonna know who’s who or what’s goin on.  Still, It’s an amazing movie for an amazing series of books.  I needs me that song.  For those of you who want to know, the song in the clip is sung entirely in the fremen language.  Talk about geekgasmic!!!!

 I not only recommend these as well a the whole series, but totally endorse them by saying they’re probably the zenith of science fiction literature.  But you don’t have to take my word for it!

Readin Rainbow #2: The Zombie Survival Guide

For today’s Reading Rainbow we will be talking about something that might very well save the lives of you and everyone you know.  Like we learned in Star Trek, “All good things…”  Like every living thing, one day we will perish, and one possibility is a Zombie Apocalypse.  For your benefit, I researched how to survive against the undead.

Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse is a dificult thing, but with the right tools and training, you too can be the hero of the day of tomorrow.  This book is a must have if you want to be ready for the coming of the undead.  It explains in full detail zombie origins, scientific theories, zombie behaviour and most importantly how to prepare yourself for the attack at hand.  You would thing that slow moving corpses would be easy to dispatch if you had an AK-47 and some molotov cocktails.  Well, first of all, you shouldn’t be operating firearms while under the influence of alcohol.  Second, firearms would be a Plan B, a long cutting instrument or blunt object should be your first choice . 

First of all, knowing our luck, these will not be your run of the mill zombies out of a music video performing a chorepgraphed routine.  I could handle those, Im a good dancer if I say so.  These will not be Night of the Living Dead zombies, clumsily staggering towards their next meal: your brain.  These will be 28 Days Later zombies.  They will be rushing out of buildings, running as fast as their zombie legs can take them.  You better be ready for a fight to the death, with death!.  I give this book my full endorsement.  We can not be too prepared for the oncoming onslaught, and since I really want to survive, I can’t do it alone.  So you all have to read this, it’s for my best interest.  Without spoiling the book for you, here are the top ten lessons for survivng a zombie attack:

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

And grizzy ghouls from every tomb are closing in to seal your doom.  And though you fight to stay alive your body starts to shiver for no mere mortal can resist the evil of the Thriller. But you don’t have to take my word for it!

Readin Rainbow #1: Dune

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Ok, so some of you have figured out I like this book.  I broke a cardinal rule by watching the David Lynch version before reading the book.  Hell, I didn’t know there was a book.  Albeit, I saw it a long ass time ago, and didn’t understand one lick of it.  Then someone very special told me to read the book, so I did.  OMG, very very nice of a book.  It scratched every sci-fi itch I had.  To the extent that I had to read the entire series of 6 books.  Of all of them, obviously this is the best. 

Almost all of the characters are extremey awesome, to the point that I want to be like them when I grow up.  My favourite of course is Lady Jessica.  She is tough, yet gentle,and not to give out too many spoilers, but the whole series is all about here (in my opinion anyways).  Try to picture Princess Leia about 5 years after the last movie (not Natalie Portman!)  She has realized she can be a Jedi master.  So not only is she tough already, but now she’s going to be like her twin.  She is woman, hear her roar!

Other cool things about Dune:  the sandworms, the Wierding way, the Fremen, everyone addicted to the spice Melange, since they get blue-inblu eyes, and the Bene Gesserit and of course The Voice.  I got inspiration for the name of this blog from that book, mainly the whole series.  There are some booko out there that just move you and inspire you and change your lives.  Kinda like Star Wars nerds.  They live the Jedi life. Um ok, I’m not that bad, but hey, not that there’s anything wrong with that. 

Another way that book has affected me is now I wanna get a dog, name her Jessica (yup, she’s a lady too).  I will treat her with love and respect, and train her to use the Voice on command.  She’s gonna be soooooo pretty and regal and all that shit. 

Anyways, I digressed from the book review.  I don’t wanna give out any spoilers because you should discover them for yourself. It’s a fairly long book, but man it goes so fast!  Make sure you pay attention to the last page of the story, especially the last line.  Sheer awesomeness!!!! But you don’t have to take my word for it.